Criminal Appeal No. 28 of 1994. Case: Satish s/o Narayan Ate Vs State of Maharashtra. High Court of Bombay (India)
| Case Number | Criminal Appeal No. 28 of 1994 |
| Counsel | For Appellant: Smt. Dangre, Adv. |
| Judges | V. S. Sirpurkar, J. |
| Issue | Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) - Section 306 |
| Citation | 1997 CriLJ 935 |
| Judgement Date | February 19, 1996 |
| Court | High Court of Bombay (India) |
Judgment:
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The appellant-accused has challenged herein his conviction for the offence under S. 306 of the IPC.
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The prosecution case is that one Maya, who was a resident of village Rohana in Wardha district was in love with the appellant-accused and their love affair was going on for about one-and-. a-half years. That, the parents of Maya agreed for the marriage between Maya and the accused. The accused also agreed for the same and it was decided that the marriage was to be performed on 18-6-1989. However, the accused did not come and avoided to get married. It has further come in the prosecution evidence that on 24-6-1989, Maya filed a report at Exhibit 42 with the Police Station alleging therein that though her marriage was fixed with the accused and though the clothes etc. were stitched, the accused had not married her as his mother Gangabai had demanded Rs. 5000/- from her as a pre-condition for her marriage with the accused and as a result of that, the accused was searching for other girls. The prosecutrix, in that report, had stated that her life and reputation would be ruined and, therefore, prayed for proper action. It seems that the police did not do anything on this report. After about three weeks of this report, it is reported that Maya poured kerosene on her person while she was in her house and there after jumped into the nearby well while she was burning. As a result of that she met with a watery grave. A report came to be given by her uncle Ravindra examined as PW-1 and in that report, Ravindra had merely stated that Maya had jumped into the well in a burning condition. However, later on, it seems that on the basis of the statements of the parents of Maya, the Police Station Officer prepared a report and lodged the First Information Report. It is on that basis that the investigation started. In post-mortem report, it turned out that the unfortunate girl was having 12 weeks of pregnancy. The police, thereafter, recorded the statements, executed the inquest panchanama as well as the spot panchanama and put up the charge-sheet against the accused.
2A. The accused abjured the guilt and claimed to be tried. He denied that he had any love affair with Maya. He also denied that Maya had died as a result of the deception practised by him.
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The trial Court, on the basis of the evidence led before it of the witnesses, including the parents and near relatives of Maya, came to the conclusion that Maya had died as a result of the deception practised by the accused and therefore, the accused had abetted the suicide by Maya. It is this finding of conviction and the consequent sentence which is the subject matter of this appeal.
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Mrs. Dangre, the learned Counsel appearing on behalf of the appellant-accused, firstly points out that it has nowhere been proved in the evidence that Maya was impregnated by the accused. She further submits that it could not be said at all that the love affair between Maya and the accused was an established fact and that Maya committed sucide because the accused refused to marry her. She has pointed out that the prosecution has not been able to prove the abement on the part of the accused for Maya's suicide. She dubs the trial Court's judgment as a moral conviction.
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Shri Dawale, learned Public Prosecutor, very strenuously submits that there were enough circumstances on record to show that Maya's death is nothing but a direct result of the deception practised on her by the accused and, therefore, the accused had abetted the act of suicide by Maya.
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Mrs. Dangre has taken me through the whole evidence. The evidence mainly consists of PW-1 Ravindra Bramhane, PW-2 Shalik Bramhane, PW-4 Parvatabai w/o. Shalikram Bramhane, PW-5 Ashok Bramhane and PW-6 Ravindra Didhale. The prosecution has also examined PW-3 Bapurao...
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